BY MAKINI BRICE

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

It is not just the zombies we need to be worried about.

With the weak economy, households have less disposable income. With that comes less cash for entertainment, clothing, and apparently causes consumers to be riskier with food.

According to research by the United Kingdom’s Food Standards Agency, as reported by Digital Journal, people are increasingly ignoring use-by dates and hold onto leftovers for longer periods of time, choosing to judge the freshness of item by smell. They cite higher food prices as one of the reasons.

According to Digital Journal, the problem is that food contaminations like E. Coli and salmonella do not give off an odor.

Additionally, the BBC reports that food poisoning peaks in the summer because bacteria and contaminates can grow more quickly at a warmer temperature.

The United States Department of Agriculture suggests that consumers eat cooked leftovers within four days. The USDA also advises not to leave food out in a room-temperature environment for more than two hours.